Yahoo News in Singapore recently revealed new proof that meditation actually works. A brand-new study took a novel approach in examining the way that a person’s physiology reacts to pressure as well as to mindfulness and meditation. The results confirmed once again that meditation has tangible benefits for the human body and its stress responses.

The Plan

The study compared two groups of people. One group took an eight-week course in stress management that made no mention of meditation. Another group took an eight-week course that emphasised mindfulness meditation. Both groups consisted of individuals suffering from generalised anxiety disorder. The individuals were randomly assigned to groups without being told the purpose or structure of the experiment.

The Training

The people who took the meditation course were taught to focus their minds and to exist mindfully in each moment. The exercises also involved active mental acceptance of troubling feelings or problematic thoughts. As the participants focused on being in the present, they also worked on facing their anxious thoughts and accepting them.

During their course, the other participants in the second group were taught stress management tactics like nutrition, adequate sleep, better organisation, and more efficient time management. They did not receive meditation training.

The Tests

To evaluate the biological stress markers in the participants, the researchers created a type of “stress test.” Each person was asked to speak to a group of official-looking evaluators dressed in lab coats. The speaker was given just a few minutes to formulate their speech, and they were also asked to do mental math during the test. Blood samples, collected before and after each test, gave researchers the opportunity to measure hormone levels, specifically stress hormones and inflammation markers. The tests were administered to participants before the courses and afterwards.

The Results

After the eight weeks of training in mindfulness and meditation, these individuals showed a distinct change. Their levels of stress hormones were lower. During anxiety-inducing incidents, their inflammation markers were much lower than the levels prior to the completion of the course. Essentially, these individuals had undergone meditation therapy that helped them cope with stressors in their environment— and it worked.

Compared to those who went through the meditation study, the other group of participants did not experience the same benefits. Their markers of inflammation and their stress hormone levels remained similar to the levels at the beginning of the course.

The Benefits for You

This study, published in the journal Psychiatry Research, supports earlier research about the physical and psychological benefits of meditation. At Adelphi Psych Medicine Clinic, we have long recognised the helpfulness of many different therapies for our patients’ recovery. Art therapy in Singapore has become an accepted method of aiding emotional expression and facilitating mental recovery. In addition, we use cognitive behaviour therapy, EMDR, clinical hypnosis, and other treatments, as well as meditation.